Prisoner of Zenda, The (1952)

This remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) has large boots to
fill. Even with Technicolor and stars I revere -- Deborah Kerr and
James Mason -- it can't keep up with the original. Not bad, but not
great. If they'd waited another couple of years it might have been a
widescreen spectacle.

I have nothing against Stewart Granger and they make good use of his
swashbuckling prowess to give an extended sword-fighting sequence at
the climax, but there is just no substitute for Ronald Colman. His wry
intelligence and sad soulful depth: that doesn't come along in every
generation.

They use the same Alfred Newman score and the same shooting script as
the original and the camera angles and scene setups are often very
similar. Which do you like better:

Deborah Kerr has such a strong personality that it is hard to believe
her when she is overwhelmed by love or passion.